I came so that they may continually have Zoe alive, and have it more abundantly. If you were to check your life experience, you'll find that there's only two main possibilities that exist. Number one, you're walking in the blessing of the Lord, and number two, you're walking under a curse.

And usually, you can't really have much of a mixture. You're usually either walking in one, or walking in the other. It's kind of like night or day, darkness or light.

The problem is that most of us have been walking under a curse for so long now that we don't know what blessing is. When a blessing comes by pure accident, or good fortune, we rejoice for a short season, say, wow, isn't that wonderful? But it probably won't last, and it usually doesn't. Sure enough, before long, all the negatives begin to creep again into our lives.

This verse that Jesus spoke is very significant. It's a short, sharp statement, and many have preached on this passage through the years. But how do we move from the curse to the blessing? Well, perhaps the best way to start is to understand where the curse comes from.

Because if we think of all the negatives in our life as just being our fate, as being, well, that's life. Well, things happen. Bad things happen.

It's the world we live in. We can't expect things to go good all the time. See, that's what the enemy wants us to think.

And that's how we've been programmed to think. But Jesus put his finger right on where the problem is. He said the thief.

Who's he referring to? He's not referring to a natural thief or a human. He's speaking about the enemy of our souls, Satan, Lucifer, and all his hordes of darkness that fill this earth. He said the thief comes just to do three things.

To steal, and to kill, and to destroy. Now, if you want to look for the signs of a curse, you'll always find those three things evident. Theft, strife, and destruction.

Theft, strife, and destruction. Whenever you see one or more of these things in your life, you can stop right there and say there's a curse in operation. Because those are the signs of a curse.

These are the exact three things that Jesus pointed out right there. A thief comes to steal. What's he stealing? Well, you know, usually when we think of stealing, we think of a person stealing what is valuable to us.

And probably the most valuable thing that most thieves are after is money. Right? If a thief breaks into your house, the first thing he's looking for is money. If he can't get money, you're going to find something else of value that he can convert into money.

So the first sign of theft in our lives is financial lack. Financial problems. Lack of money.

Or suddenly not getting the money that we expected. Losing financial opportunities. These are all a sign of theft.

Well, Satan can also steal something else that's very valuable to us. And that's our joy. He can steal our joy.

The scripture says the joy of the Lord is our strength. If he steals your joy, he takes away your strength. There's nothing more devastating than having a thief break into your home.

If you've never experienced it, trust me, I've experienced it now. I know what it's like. There's nothing more demoralizing than when you walk into your home and discover that somebody broke in and walked in there and helped themselves to your valuables.

Went right through your home and took everything that was valuable, took it away. Now it's gone. Gone forever.

Just the thought of somebody being in your home is bad enough. And then you start to discover that very special thing that was such great value to you is not there anymore. It's gone.

Somebody has stolen it. I wonder how often we realize what Satan steals from us, not only in the natural, but in the spiritual and in the psychological. How he steals relationships from us.

How he steals our happy memories. How he steals everything in life that is valuable to us, that makes life worth living. He doesn't want you to live a happy life.

He wants to steal from you every good thing that God has given you. Then he wants to bring strife. The ultimate end of strife is killing.

See, it started right back way there in the early Genesis when God first made man. And we see Cain and Abel getting into strife. And the first murder taking place.

Strife leads ultimately to killing. So while I'm not a murderer, but sometimes you're angry enough to want to kill. You may not carry it out, but anger is a very powerful force.

And when Satan begins to cause strife and conflict between people, he's winning. He's winning all the way because he's taken away your love. He's taken away your hope.

He's taken away your faith. He begins to steal from you everything. And when you strife and in conflict with somebody, the only thing that fills your mind is revenge.

How dare that person do it to me? I want to see them being punished. I want to see them being hurt. There's no place for love anymore.

Just hatred. Anger. And then if he can't steal what you have, he'll destroy it.

A beautiful car that you finally managed to get after all these years. Somebody will just come up and ride straight into you and put a great big dent in the side of it. Destruction.

Making things pack in that they stop working. Making this body of yours that's so healthy to suddenly be filled with sickness and disease. Destruction.

These are all signs of a curse. Now if you have any of these things in your life, in any measure at all, you're operating under a curse. Now there's good news and bad news.

See the good news is that you don't have to be under a curse. The good news is that God made a way for you to overcome. The bad news is that Satan has got a hold in your life and we need to get him out.

Because he has only one thing in mind for you and that is theft, strife and destruction. Satan is the author of the curse according to what Jesus said. He's the thief who comes to steal and kill and destroy.

Too often when we have a curse, we get caught up in the very things that Satan has brought. And because of our lack and because of our conflict and strife, we look everywhere else for the source of the curse except the true source which is Satan himself. We blame other people for the curse in our lives.

Haven't you seen it? Just look at a nation, any nation, and if you were to ask them why they have so many problems, they're going to say something like, well it's the government. It's the government. They don't run the country properly.

They've always got somebody else to blame. It's my parents. It's my teacher at school.

It's my boss. It's always somebody else's fault. See if my boss gave me more money then we wouldn't lack finance.

See it's always somebody's fault. We always try to pass the blame to a human being. But you see the final ultimate source of the curse is not man.

It's Satan. And Satan will work through man. And those who allow him, he'll use them.

So yes it may look like it's coming from man. But who is our enemy? Is our enemy man? People say if I could just leave this job and go and find another job where I'm working under a better boss, I'll have better opportunities. See your boss is not your problem.

You need to look beyond the circumstances and see who is the true source of the curse in your life. Some people even try to blame God. Well God has allowed this in my life.

So therefore God wants me to suffer. And unfortunately some people have even made a doctrine out of it. There are people who actually teach that God allows problems in your life to teach you something, to humble you, to deal with your sin.

God is allowing these things in your life. God is the source of the problems that you have. And so instead of us turning against the enemy who is the one who's causing the problems, we turn against the only one who can offer us a solution.

Life is hopeless, totally hopeless. We've cut out our only source of hope. Oh don't be ever, ever, ever be tempted to think that the problems you have in your life are caused by God or that God has a purpose in them.

No, God is not the source. Jesus said the thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. He said, but I, I have come that you can have life.

The total opposite. Life in abundance. Well when did the curses start? They started back in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and handed everything over to Satan.

That's when it started. That's when they allowed Satan to take control of this world. And you see, if Satan is ruling in your life or in the lives of anybody, it's because you're letting him.

It's because you're believing his lies just as Eve believed his lies when he said, God doesn't want you to have good things. Can't you see that God is withholding from you all of these good things? It's God's fault and people are still believing that lie and giving Satan license to work in the earth. All of this comes as a result of one simple little word.

A word that we don't like to speak about these days. It's a little three letter word, S-I-N, sin. You see, there were no conflicts or problems in the Garden of Eden.

There was no lack, there was no strife or conflict until sin entered. And when sin entered, the curse entered. Jesus didn't leave us there.

He said, I came, I came that they may have life. The scripture says, for this reason, the Son of God was manifested in this world that he might destroy the works of the devil. That he might destroy the works of the devil.

Jesus came firstly and he died to pay for our sin so that no longer could our sin stand between us and God. No longer could our sins give Satan a license in our life. Jesus brought the solution to sins.

But Jesus, when he arose from the dead, came to give us more than forgiveness and cleansing from our sins. He came to give us the power to actually overcome the sinful nature itself that is within us. Because he rose from the dead, he comes to live with us and in us to daily help us to overcome the tendency to sin.

And as we overcome the sins, and as we overcome the tendency to sin, we overcome the curse. We overcome the power of Satan in our lives and we can walk in blessing. Not only that, but Jesus stands at the right hand of the Father to intercede every time we fail.

Every time we sin, every time we fail, he stands there as our lawyer winning the case for us. Because Satan wants to come and judge us. Satan wants to come and accuse us and say, but you sinned, how dare you ask God to bless you? You sinned, therefore I have a right to curse you.

And we believe his lies and sure enough, he curses us and brings the curse into our lives because we allow that guilt to rob us. The abundant life that Jesus came to give us. Jesus comes to bring provision and harmony and protection.

He's gonna give us more than the thief can ever steal. He's gonna bring more harmony and love and unity than Satan can ever bring strife. He's gonna cover us with more protection than Satan can ever bring destruction.

All we need to do is to invite him in and give him the license to do that. If you're not walking in blessing, then the thief is winning. And you think it's time to kick him out? And you think it's time to walk in the abundant life that Jesus offers us? Don't you think so? Well, let's make a decision now.

Right now, I've had enough of these curses in my life. I've had enough of Satan having his way. And I'm not going to give him license anymore in my life.

I'm not gonna allow him to have his way. I'm gonna give license to the Lord Jesus who's the Lord of my life. And I'm gonna let him be king of my life.

Gonna let him live and reign in my life so that I can walk in the abundant life and the blessing that he has for us. If you're ready to do that now, we're gonna come to the Lord in prayer and we're gonna make a fresh commitment to him. Father, I just thank you for your word as it's gone forth.

I pray that we'll find a resting place in every heart. And now, Holy Spirit, I ask you to move upon each one who's heard this word now and whose heart you have touched. And I see so many that are living lives that are so far below what you intended for us.

So many that are walking in lack, that are walking in conflict and strife, whose lives are filled with destruction. Well, Jesus, you came to overcome. And on the cross of Calvary, when you said it is finished, you overcame.

And therefore, in Jesus' name now, we stand against these things in our life and we make a fresh commitment. I want you to pray now with me and make a fresh commitment. Lord, I'm weary of allowing Satan to reign in my life.

I'm weary of walking under a curse instead of in the blessing that you brought for me. Lord, I'm not gonna allow this to happen anymore. I'm going to give you license in my life instead of Satan.

I'm gonna allow you to help me to overcome sin so that Satan has no more license in my life. I submit myself fully to you now, in spirit and in soul and in body. And Lord Jesus, I ask you to come and to bring the blessing that is mine.

And I reject the works of darkness. And Satan, I put it on record right now that you will no longer rule or reign in my life. I'm not gonna allow you to do it.

I'm not gonna make excuses for it. I'm gonna turn my back on you and I'm gonna follow the only one. You came to give me life and life in abundance.

I commit myself now afresh to you and I make you Lord of my life, Lord Jesus. I make you Lord of my life. And I ask that from this day forward, you will cause your abundance to come upon me, to fall upon me, to overflow.

And that your blessing will be my portion and that the abundant life which you designed for me, Lord, will be mine. I receive it by faith now. I receive you fully as my savior and my Lord and my master.

I ask you to take full control of my life and cause your blessing to abound in me. I receive it by faith now in the name of Jesus. And I thank you for it, Father.

Thank you for it, Father. Now, I don't care if you've been serving the Lord for years. You say, well, that sounds like a sinner's prayer.

There's no such thing as a sinner's prayer. We're all sinners. So if you thought it was a sinner's prayer, yeah, because you're a sinner.

It's a fresh commitment to him to make him Lord of your life. A fresh commitment to kick Satan out and to stop giving him license. And from this day forward, make that commitment afresh every day.

And you'll begin to see the abundant life that Jesus came to give you. You'll begin to see the blessing manifest in your life instead of the curse. And you'll realize that he came to give us a wonderful life, a life that's worth living, a life that is filled with all the good things that he bought for us on the cross of Calvary.

Go out this week and walk now in that blessing. No more curses, only the blessing of the Lord. Amen.

Post A Review For This Book